Being Pulled Here and There

Lately, I've been pulled in many directions, and lately, it seems to be moving me towards inertia. That is not good. I had things all planned out for our wedding anniversary next week (#31) but those plans are in the process of being canceled. DH's 91-year-old father fell and broke his hip. Because of his age and other health problems he was not a candidate for the traditional 3-4 hour surgery for hip replacement.A repair was done instead. Originally scheduled for transfer to the rehab facility today, I think that may not happen either. This is what life in limbo is like! Wait and see.

On a brighter note, I joined the mailing list for ScrappingTable and got my first newsletter today. For those of you with Cricut cutters, this is very important. There is a program out there call Sure-Cuts-A-Lot that you can purchase through Michelle at ScrappingTable at a really good price. I did this at the beginning of the month and was able to download my program and then get access to lots of free fonts, shapes, templates, etc on her site. You don't have to purchase the program from her, you could just purchase access to her extras. Well worth it. Also Michelle has some helpful videos and some step-by-step instructions to help with SCAL (version 2.) Michelle has secure purchasing through Pay-Pal and you do not need an account with them. I downloaded my program and at a later date received the disk.

I mentioned in an earlier blog that you could use this program instead of buying lots of cartridges. Really, for the cost of about one cartridge, you can buy this program. If that isn't a deal, I don't know what is. Sure Cricut has their Design Studio, but it is really only meant to be used with their cartridges. With SCAL2 the only thing you need a cartridge for is to get the Cricut to cut anything. My Cricut (George) came with the Georges & Basic Shapes cartridge. I don't ever plan on buying another one. One of the things I like best about it - after playing with the software and George for a couple weeks is the ability to manipulate words and phrases to get them to look the way I want them to look. Also, there are so many free fonts out there, it's wonderful to be able to  easily change the look of something. The other thing you can do - and this is one of my favorites - is to trace a .jpg image and change it to a scut2 file for use with your program. This has been a lot of fun for me. The only thing I need is to make sure the dot runners don't run out!

Copyright 2010, ACK, for Generational

Automated Message - I'm Having Too Much Fun

Poor Generational doesn't get much attention lately, and I feel like I should have one of those "I'm away from my desk right now" messages on this blog!

It all started last month when I attended the 3rd Annual Scrapbooking Luau put on by the Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) at one of the local churches. IT. WAS. A. BLAST.  I even got something accomplished - a heritage book - and am now thoroughly bitten by the scrapbook bug. Years ago, like when I was 13 or 14, I attempted to scrapbook, and what ended up was a bunch of stuff glued into a scrapbook. I still have it. Things have more or less come unglued from it.

My Cricut Personal Cutter

I will admit, I am jealous of people with their beautiful layouts and die-cut letters and phrases. Then I found out I could have that too. So now I do. It came today. The good thing about it is it will cut just about anything. The bad thing about it, is it requires these little cartridges. Or so I thought ...

Sure Cuts A Lot 2 by Craft Edge

Then I discovered Sure Cuts A Lot 2. And thanks to some wonderful videos courtesy of Michelle at ScrappingTable.com, I found out I only needed the cartridge that came with the cutter (because a cartridge needs to be inserted in order for it to work) and a USB cord. I am in scrapbook heaven. My first project is already complete and the subject was ... the Scrapbooking Luau that I attended. Again, thanks to Michelle at ScrappingTable, I was able to figure out some ins and outs and produce my first layout. It sort of reminds me of being on yearbook staff senior year in high school. Only more fun and no deadlines!

Copyright 2010, ACK, for Generational